Time And Fate
by ronnambi
Summary: AU. The Butterfly Effect implies one small change in the timeline results in a complete shift in events in that universe. So what if it is even more significant than that? How big will be the change? Now rebooted and retconned, because the original was going nowhere special. A/N: Recent updates to timelines and cleaning up of grammar.
1. Chapter 1

_1\. The Voice Of God_

I woke up with a gasp.

My eyes flew open as my head swivelled left and right. I got up in a crouch.

 **CLOAK ACTIVATED** sounded in my head. I looked down to see that my entire body was invisible.

 _'What the hell? Where am I now?'_ I asked myself as I tentatively stepped out of the alley I had woken up in. I wrack my mind for my last memory. I remember fighting in New York as I was sent into orbit.

 _'So who am I now? Prophet? The Lion? Laurence Barnes? John Shepard? Or Draco Malfoy?'_ I thought to myself as I looked around. My eyes immediately pick out the most recognisable land mark, the giant copper statue of Libertas, welcoming the masses to her shores.

 _'Oh, motherfucker'_ I think in disbelief as I gaze at the Statue Of Liberty, whole and untarnished (barring the patina of copper carbonate on it).

"I am Iron Man" I hear over a loud speaker. My head whipped around to see Robert Downey Jr., on a giant screen. He has his right arm in a sling, while Gwyneth Paltrow was standing beside him, looking on him in an exasperated manner.

But, to my everlasting surprise, the screen doesn't switch to the credits and AC/DC but a pretty news anchor is brought into focus.

"And with today morning's shocking revelation of Tony Stark, the billionaire CEO of Stark Industries as the superhero Iron Man, Stark Industries share prices have skyrocketed by 120 percent, leading to an all-time high in the company's value and massive profits to all share holders. Over to you Scott" she said.

Immediately another news anchor, a man in a blue suit and sky blue tie comes into focus.

"Yes it is a day of wind fall for Stark Industries as a lot of people are putting their money into the company, due to how Tony Stark and Iron Man are perceived by the public as a hero. That sentiment has resulted in a massive buying spree for Stark Industries securities. Sharon, I honestly don't know how long this will last, but the minute prices plateau, I guarantee that a massive sell out will happen, correcting markets" Scott replies.

As it switched back to Sharon, I tuned her out as I realised where I am.

 _'I'm in the Marvel Universe!'_

Then I let out a half-groan, half-sigh.

"Hey there big guy. Having problems?" a scratchy voice asked me from behind. I turn around and see... _Stan Lee?_

Oooookaaaaay. Things are now _officialy_ weird.

Wait a minute. This is too bloody convenient. I activated one of my abilities.

Mage sight.

And am nearly blinded by the astral projection in front of me.

Blinking my eyes clear I look at the being (for being he definitely was).

And I knew his name.

"The-One-Above-All" I whisper.

He just smirked at me in reply.

-X-

We walk to Central Park after I procured a trench coat and took off my helmet. Unfortunately my weapons, barring my K-Bar were no longer on my person.

Neither of us spoke a word as we entered the Park, strolling so it seemed.

' _So, you figured out who and what I am. Be careful as to who use that ability against, some beings would literally melt your mind_ " The-One-Above-All said in my mind. The sheer oppressive weight in my mind from His presence is almost enough to do that. I have to keep a tight lid on my Occlumency barriers while I replied.

' _Noted. Now what's the mission?_ '

' _Who said anything about a mission_?' He replied, his voice tinged with amusement. He continued ' _I brought you here because you have a choice. I am sure you know what that is_ '

' _To take an active role in the events that occur here or be content to sit on the sidelines?_ ' I ask.

' _Exactly_ ' he replied.

Honestly, it was tempting. After surviving three wars against unstoppable forces, I wouldn't mind putting up my feet. But, knowing the dangers to come, I knew that, despite my best attempts, I would end up taking part.

I thought back at what all I had done in all the realities I had experienced. In the Harry Potter universe, I managed to integrate Magical and Mundane societies, laid the foundations of a space faring civilisation and managed to hook up Harry with Hermione, Ginny with Neville and Ron and Luna. Not bad for an aristocratic snob if I do say so myself. Didn't survive a car bomb by a Mundane terrorist group, but last I checked, even my death had it's uses. It cemented the bonds between the societies in admantium.

In the Mass Effect universe, as Commander John David Shepard, I managed to spear-head an initiative for an interspecies Special Ops group under the command of the Citadel forces. Through this I was able to provide conclusive proof in the existence of not only the Reapers, but also helped the galaxy in preparing for their Arrival and also used the gap period to assassinate the Illusive Man and Kai Leng and destroy Cerberus. After two years of bloody fighting, we managed to build the Crucible and Catalyst. In the final battle, I sacrificed myself as I destroyed the Reapers. Thankfully, I got the warning out in time to the AIs. Hopefully, everything managed to get rebuilt after all the chaos. Also I managed to hook up Garrus and Ashley, Jack and Kaidan, Miranda and Vega and Tali and Joker. What? I like playing match-up. It's fun. And honestly? All that UST gave me a head ache. And this way the nincompoops could go about blowing off steam without giving each other the beat down.

Then Crysis. Not much I could do there, just survive. Not that I would complain about that. Honestly speaking, it was a nice vacation. I got to unload all my stress on a bunch of bad guys. Plus managed to keep Psycho's girl alive. What was her name again? Damn, can't remember. Ah, well.

Nothing gets rid of stress better than shooting up bad guys, human or alien.

Amusement washed over me from the being next to me at my thoughts.

' _So, have you made your choice?_ ' He asked me. I just give Him a look. He chuckled at that.

' _Stay strong true believer. Excelsior!_ ' He said. A car horn startled me, causing my head to jerk towards it. When I looked back, He was gone. He left behind a suitcase for me. I look around then pick it up and walk towards one of the tables. Opening it, I see three sets of clothes, two sets of shoes, a wallet with money and ID papers, a bank account statement saying that Mr. John Shepherd, age 16 was now richer by US$ 100,000. I also had an extensive medical history, showing I had been orphaned at the age of 3 by a home invasion gone wrong. My paternal uncle and aunt won custody of me, with my maternal aunt being a regular visitor. I was originally born in Los Angeles, California, but in a scholarship managed to get a transfer to Bayville High's accelerated engineering program. My grades showed as me being in top percentile of my peer group.

' _Holy shit!_ ' I couldn't help panicking a little initially. I managed to calm myself, reminding myself that both as Draco Malfoy and Commander Shepard I had designed some nifty things. So engineering wasn't so surprising.

I also had my own apartment on 2nd and West Street, approximately a half hour walk from where I was.

Then I noticed something odd about my hands.

They were _skin_.

But I could feel the armour beneath it. Somehow, the nano suit managed to grow a skin layer over itself.

That's right ladies and gentlemen; I'm naked under the coat.

Excuse me for a few moments.

-X-

The landlady, a Mrs. Coggs, was a cheerful, grandmotherly woman who called me dear, asked me how my flight was and worrying if I could manage on my own.

A lovely lady. I should definitely cultivate this relationship and make sure she doesn't overwork herself. There's something about kind hearted women that makes me want to be their Sir Galahad.

After Mrs. Coggs left, I began planning. As the next day was a Saturday, I decided to visit Fury, give him a heads up on Stark, New Mexico, Loki and HYDRA. That way, I get into SHIELD's good graces. After that I would need to make a trip to Westchester County and meet the good Professor and convince him to get the X-Men to stand ready for the Chitauri invasion.

Which will happen in approximately 1 year, 3 months.

Today is 18th July, 2008.

My deadline is 9th October, 2009.

Incidentally my birthdate was, in this timeline, 2nd October 1992.

Lovely.

I decided to take a bath and hit the hay.

-X-

 _Date: 19th July 2008, Time: 1700hrs._

I crouched about 500 meters away from the Triskelion, SHIELD's main headquarters. I had spent the past 5 hours concealed in the grassy knoll, studying the compound. Armed guards, attack dogs. And the best part.

Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.

Yep, SHIELD's top attack dogs were in the building. This just became very complicated.

Oh well. Nothing better to do.

The best part of my armour. We were now one entity. The suit was me and I am the suit.

Meaning my HUD was now in my eyes.

 **MAXIMUM SPEED**

I burst out of the knoll and take a flying leap over the fencing, clearing it by centimeters.

 **CLOAK ACTIVATED**

Immediately, I was invisible to all sensors, including the Human Eyeball, Mark 1.

I make my way quickly and quietly into the building, waiting until one of the agents opened the door. I snuck in behind him and headed towards the janitor's closet. I got inside and deactivated the cloaking, waiting for the meter to fill up. Once it was close to ninety percent, I exited out of it and strode confidently towards the stairs. A quinjet landed on a nearby pad and I saw a medical team with a stretcher rush out. I walked up as close as I could without looking suspicious. I caught a flash of blue, red and white and realised who it was. And what it meant.

' _Come, come Watson! The game is afoot!_ ' I think to myself as I use the elevator doors as a means to activate my cloaking. I headed to the highest floor.

On reaching there I wondered how the hell I am going to warn Fury.

Plan A was to get entry into his office by _Imperiurising_ his secretary to let me in. This was potentially fatal for me, but also had the highest benefits.

Plan B was the same as Plan A, assuming that he wasn't there in the office, in which case I leave behind a notebook filled with everything that will happen. This would be charmed to be able to be read by his eye only and no one else.

Plan C was in case I happened to meet him on the way. In that situation, I would slip the notebook into his trench coat.

Minimum risk, medium impact.

Considering as the elevator doors opened, I saw the man I wanted to meet striding down the corridor to me, accompanied by Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff.

My cloak was still engaged when I walked up to them. A silent Banishing Charm ensured that the notebook would land up in his pockets.

On entering the lift, I saw him pull out the notebook. He looked up in time for me to disengage my cloak and give him a cheery, mock salute. The doors shut and I Apparate away to Westchester county.

Now would be the hard part.

After all, the Professor could easily detect me. And he was someone I definitely wanted on my side.

-X-

 **Next chapter: The Good Professor**


	2. Chapter 2

_2\. The Good Professor_

 _Date: 19th July 2008, Time: 1901 hrs._

I Apparated to just a kilometer away from The Xavier's Institute for the Gifted. I wanted to see the lay of the land before I infiltrated in. I knew that taking an appointment was going to be a no-hoper, so I decided that this would be the best option.

The Victorian townhouse had an old world and old money elegance to it. I had seen groups of kids milling around the grounds, talking, laughing and playing around, while was watching the compound. Watching them being _kids_. It made me feel good just looking at it.

' _Focus_ ' I think to myself. A mental command later and SECOND informed me;

 **CLOAK ACTIVATED.**

I slowly wend my way to the 8 foot, brownstone wall, which to my passive scans, revealed nothing.

No alarms, pressure pads, lasers or active defences. That immediately made me wary. If Logan was already here, he would have definitely upgraded the defences.

Something to think about for later.

I jumped up, grabbed the ledge and pulled myself up. I crouched on the ledge, using my thermal and EM vision modes to check the ground for traps.

Nothing.

Good _Lord_ , the man is _too_ trusting for his own good.

As I dropped down, a high pitched whine could be heard. I looked up and noticed a VTOL aircraft lift out of what was the basket ball court. The angles and colouration gave it away as a stealth aircraft.

Okay, maybe _not_ that trusting.

As the aircraft flew off on a bearing due south-west-south according to my compass, I lay prone on the grass as I wait for it to go some distance.

Ten minutes pass by slowly. Assuming it flew at a speed 1837.5 kilometers per hour, they should be at least 306.25 kilometers away. I crouch walk my way to the garden doors of the gazebo. A quick _Alohamora_ and I'm inside the building.

In Xavier's case, I decide that it would be best if I left psychic echoes of my presence inside his Institute. I slowly dropped my shields and let my thoughts echo out. I implanted a general sense of unease, strong enough to be noticed by a non-telepathic mutant. I used my Occlumency to conceal my identity, but I ensured that the feeling of unease emanated from me. I made my way to the Professor's study and leave a trail of echoes behind me.

I stand behind the study table and push forward my memories of Loki's fall from grace, his brainwashing at the hands of the Mad Titan, the Chitauri and the Infinity Stones. Once completed, I locked my shields back in place and headed out. I then decided that I should leave some arcane defences for the institute. I set about creating a set of wards using Parselmagic, ensuring anyone who sought to harm the Institute or has a desire to harm them would be sent off on an interdimensional trip. Anyone who manages to bypass the first layer would find all their attacks being reversed on them, by reversing their very intent. Any unauthorised people piggybacking on the back of Nightcrawler would find themselves splinched and scattered across dimensions. A final layer was to not only enhance the good professor's already formidable telepathic capabilities, but also form a mental admantium-titanium alloy shield, protecting his mind from telepathic attack. I then linked them all to the titanium-carbide ward stone, which I Banished into the ground, a good 50 meters under its surface.

There is no such thing as _overkill_ , right?

...Right?

Okay, maybe I spent a little too much time with Moody.

When I showed him and Harry my ward schemes, their grins were a little disturbing.

Needless to say my Shield bracelets were popular and everybody in the Order wore it. It could stop everything short of the Killing Curse. That bloody thing was very much a one shot-one kill affair.

Once I checked the wards were to my satisfaction, I Apparated back to my apartment.

-X-

I entered my apartment to find it already in occupation.

A grandfatherly looking man was sitting in my study table, flipping through my copy of _'The Once And Future King_ ' by T.H. White. I happened to have seen it yesterday and made the impulsive decision to purchase. _And I hadn't got a chance to read it yet._

 _NO!_

 _...Ahem._

"Oh, my apologies. I saw this on the table, and I could not resist" the man replied, giving me a sheepish half-smile.

I nod in understanding, while ordering SECOND to run facial-recog.

SECOND immediately replied to my order.

 **MAX EISENDHART, 'MAGNETO', ABILITY TO MANIPULATE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM, ENERGY AND MATTER MANIPULATION THROUGH THE SAME SPECTRUM. OMEGA CLASS MUTANT.**

 _Holy shit._

"And what brings the Master of Magnetism to this neck of the woods?" I say in reply. He looked a little surprised at that, and then his half-smile came back on, while his eyes gained a wary light.

"How do you know who I am?" he says. I feel a wave of power wash over me. I gathered a Killing Curse in my hands. A sickly green glow starts building in the palm of my hands.

"I know enough _Magneto_ , that you're essentially the Malcolm X of the mutants, just with a body count and a dose of megalomania. You have become exactly what you fear and hate" I reply, my voice causing the temperature to drop.

"John? Is everything alright in there?" I heard Mrs. Coggs call from the front door. The rattle of keys sounded as she tried to access my door.

I shoot him a look that said ' _harm her and die'._ The bugger just smirked at me, but switches his power off and I dissipate my spell _._

Not a moment too soon, Mrs. Coggs walked into my apartment.

"Good evening Mrs. Coggs!" I cheerfully called to her. I glance around and notice that one of the windows was now open. And Magneto has made good his escape.

Bastard.

"I was coming to invite you down for dinner and I thought I heard raised voices in here" Mrs. Coggs said, her voice concerned.

"You didn't need to trouble yourself like that on my account Mrs. Coggs" I reply, as she looked around. I notice a small note in my book.

I pocket the note as she turns around to reply "No trouble at all. My grandnephew was supposed to meet me for dinner today, but he was required at his boarding school for some emergency. And I hope you don't mind giving an old woman company?"

"Not at all" I replied, thinking of murdering her grandnephew for missing out on something so important.

"Oh thank you dear that is so kind of you!" she replied her face lighting up with a delighted smile. She starts chattering away about her nephew, who she called 'Scotty'. When I pointed out the nickname, she revealed she was a Trekkie. In the meantime I surreptiously read the note.

 _'If you change your mind, contact Raven Darkholme. She will guide you to me._

 _-Magneto'_

I placed it in the palm of my hand and muttered 'Incendio'.

Within seconds, it lit up and crumpled into black ash. I then turn my entire focus onto Mrs. Coggs.

Dinner conversation revolved around whether TOS or TNG was better.

If I get the chance, I am so going to introduce Professor X to ST: TNG. And Magneto to Lord of The Rings. And Fury to Star Wars.

Let's see how they handle that!

-X-

 _Date: 21st July 2008, Time: 0800 hrs._

After finishing up with Principal Darkholme, whose veiled threats and pointed insinuations made me want to roll my eyes at her, I got my class schedule for senior year. Because I was doing a course towards engineering, my classes were more science heavy.

Considering in my first life I despised maths, goes to show how far I have come.

With me walking with my nose buried in my schedule, I was an accident waiting to happen.

Which it did, with someone bouncing off of me.

I reflexively shoot a hand out and grab the person by the wrist. By the time the dust settled I realise whose wrist I had grabbed. And I didn't need SECOND's help to figure out who it was.

Jean Grey.

With Scott Summers glaring at me.

This should be fun.

-X-

 **Next chapter: Chance Encounters in Bayville High.**


	3. Chapter 3

_3\. Chance Encounters in Bayville High_

 _Date: 21st July 2008, Time: 0801 hrs._

After finishing up with Principal Darkholme, whose veiled threats and pointed insinuations made me want to roll my eyes at her, I got my class schedule for senior year. Because I was doing a course towards engineering, my classes were more science heavy.

Considering in my first life I despised maths, goes to show how far I have come.

With me walking with my nose buried in my schedule, I was an accident waiting to happen.

Which it did, with someone bouncing off of me.

I reflexively shoot a hand out and grab the person by the wrist. By the time the dust settled I realise whose wrist I had grabbed. And I didn't need SECOND's help to figure out who it was.

Jean Grey.

With Scott Summers glaring at me.

This should be fun.

-X-

Jean Grey. Omega class psychic mutant and potential host for the Phoenix Force.

Also a 17 year old high schooler.

I had better put up my mental shields.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, should have been looking where I was going!" I exclaimed, righting her up. I quickly give her a once over and say "Are you OK?"

She gives me a pretty smile while Scott immediately snarked "You probably should have"

"Scott" she said, her voice having a slightly sharp edge. She then turned to me and said "Its fine, happens with me all the time" Her forest-green eyes provide a nice contrast with her pale skin and red hair.

Unconsciously, she reached out to my mind. I threw her out by presenting an image which would have her running for the high hills.

Her, with mussed up bed hair, kiss bruised lips, hickeys, dressed only in a white full sleeve shirt and a smile. The same shirt I was wearing.

...Oh come on. It's fun messing with a psychic's head.

Plus damn, she's _hot_.

Her cheeks immediately redden on reading my mind, while her hand flinched out of mine. I just shoot her an apologetic smile.

"John Shepherd" I said, extending my right hand. She took it and gave me a nice, full handshake. This girl was endearing herself to me with every second.

"Jean Grey. And this is my classmate and best friend Scott Summers. Are you new here?" Jean said, her voice warm and welcoming. Scott meanwhile was glaring at me.

After Voldemort, Sovereign, Harbinger and a stare down with the Alpha Ceph, after which I killed it, and a long walk and a short conversation with the OAA, I was left significantly underwhelmed by Summers's attitude.

I offered my hand to shake, but Summers (honestly, what did I ever do to him, hit his grandmother?) just chose to ignore. I immediately cast a wandless tracking charm on him. I then chose to ignore him, dismissing him.

"I'm new, part of one of the new courses for engineering that the school is offering, here for my orientation. And you?" I reply to Jean's enquiry. She shot a slightly disgusted expression at Summers before focussing on me.

"No, Bayville, born and bred. Engineering, huh? So what are you going to be doing?" she asked me.

"Basically all the same subjects, with a large dose of maths and science with an additional year long project, to be displayed at the next Stark Industries expo's student section" I reply, mentioning the main driving force behind the new courses.

Scott snorted in disbelief. Jean and I ignored him.

"Wooh, sounds like a challenge! Feeling up to it?" Jean asked me. Well, if Summers is going to be an arsehole, it's not my fault he's going to lose her. Besides, he goes and bangs Madelyn Pryor in the end. And has an affair with Emma Frost, inspite of being married to Jean. So, might as well spare Jean all the unnecessary heart break.

Besides, I think she has enough going on for her with being a potential Phoenix Force host.

And thus, Operation Seduce Jean is a go.

Not what I was planning, but considering I was practically a hermit in the previous three dimensions, I think a little slack can be cut for me.

Plus don't say you wouldn't do it if you weren't in my place.

"Yeah, I am" I said in a voice of unassailable confidence. With my knowledge of energy manipulation, enchanting, runic arrays and high end technology, my confidence could be understood.

"Cocky aren't you?" Scott replied, his voice tinged with jealousy. I raised my eyebrow in surprise.

"And it speaks! Does it have a name? Or does it have a serial number and direct connection to Skynet?" I reply, sarcasm coating each syllable in mocking condescension.

"I'll show you Skynet!" he snarled as he went for his glasses.

"Bring it on Shades" I replied, firing off another spell at him, a power suppression charm. Scott gripped his shades and moved it up.

"SCOTT, NO!" screamed Jean, stepping in my way. Brave too.

Damn, I'm a complete sucker for her now.

Scott Summers has nice yellow eyes, giving his face a tigerish cast. But now he wouldn't need his ruby-quartz glasses.

"And that was supposed to do what, exactly?" I said, my voice thick with sarcasm and confusion. Got to give Jean credit, she's a quick thinker, but she _definitely_ needed some more practice.

" _You didn't see anything. You, Scott and I had an interesting conversation and we agreed to meet up for lunch_ " Jean says, her voice thrumming with power. My Occlumency shields could hold off Prothean mind messages, Asari mind melding and even Reaper indoctrination. This was way too easy.

Screw with them? Or not to screw with them?

Screw with them. But only afterwards.

I shake my head, easily shrugging off her mental command, but making sure I have a slightly dazed expression on my face.

"So, I guess I'll see you at lunch then?" I replied, making it look like I had obeyed her command.

"Yeah, see you then!" Jean said, pulling Summers along with her. I give a distinctly wolfish smile, watching the sway of her hips as she walks away from me.

Mostly, I keep my eyes in my head. This time, I'm making an exception.

 _And what an exception_ I thought to myself.

-X-

The week after the incident, I walked into my first class for Applied Mathematics, just as the bell had rung.

I look up to the faculty's lectern and blinked twice.

There, standing at the podium is none other than Loki Laufeyson. What the Hel is The _God_ of _Mischief, Lies and Magic_ doing here?! And where was the faculty who was there during orientation?!

"Good morning class, my name is Doctor Lewis Anderson. I am a visiting faculty from Stony Brook University's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. I will be taking your classes for Applied Mathematics every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My colleague here, Doctor Jane Foster, will be handling the classes for the rest of the days. As you...excuse me, Mister...?" he broke off his introduction speech and pointed at me, while I try and rub away the migraine building behind my eyes. I looked up at him.

"Who me sir?" I ask my face politely neutral. He nodded.

"Uh, Shepherd, sir. I suffer from periodic migraines" I replied. Loki, or Dr. Lewis, clucks his tongue in sympathy.

"Would you like an aspirin?" Dr. Foster asked me, I shook my head in the negative.

"It comes and goes" I replied. A few sympathetic looks later they get back to introducing their course.

I walk about to every class, my mind trying to figure out what the hell were Loki and Jane doing here. Possibly my arrival, even if there were no visibly observable event, would have resulted in attracting all the wrong attention.

Prophet had better stay out of Bayville then.

"Hi, I'm Peter Parker" a voice next to me said, jolting me out of my thoughts causing me to look up at a thin, average sized brunette boy with slightly dorky spectacles. He had his hand out to shake. I immediately reach out and shake his, smiling warmly.

"John Shepherd" I say, introducing myself. Knowing Peter was shy (I think having 4 heart attacks in the space of 24 hours made me inured to any further shocks) I engaged him in a discussion on the comparison of Newtonian mechanics to Relativity (Astrophysics was a bit of hobby, until I needed to know it's military applications).

This is how Jean found us. The two of us had struck a casual friendship over the last week and through her, I was introduced to the rest of the X-Men.

"I see you're making friends" she said, her voice amused. I smile at her, but my words were drowned in a massive explosion.

I guess I spoke too soon when it came to Prophet's presence in Bayville.

While everyone is distracted and panicked by the explosion, I slip into the building and ping SECOND immediately.

 **CLOAK ACTIVATED.**

 _Time to go back to war_ I think as I stash my clothes and bag in my locker and fit on my helmet.

-X-

 **Next chapter: Cut off one head, two more take its place? So, let's burn the body!**


	4. Chapter 4

_4\. Cut off one head, two more take its place? So, let's burn the body!_

 _Date: 28th July 2008, Time: 1414 hrs. Location: Bayville High School, Bayville, Westchester County, New York. POV: John Shepherd_

HYDRA.

It just had to be HYDRA!

I mean seriously, don't these guys take vacations. Or, atleast let me take a vacation? I mean, I just finished up with the Ceph, now these guys?

The troops were all in black combats, carrying automatics, with their shoulder patches showing the tentacle waving skull.

Got to admit, pretty cool symbol. Complete arseholes, but cool symbol.

And leading the troops?

 **BARON HELMUT ZEMO, SECOND-IN-COMMAND OF HYDRA OVERALL, SENIOR FIELD COMMANDER, SPECIAL OPERATIONS. ENHANCED HUMAN, MASTERY OF ESPIONAGE, CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT AND MARKSMANSHIP.**

Good.

They corralled everyone onto the grounds of the school, with roadblocks along the approach roads using armoured trucks. Up in the sky, quinjets winked into existence.

Bloody. Hell.

Now what?

SECOND immediately points out the best option, taking out one of the quinjets, then eliminating the others, eliminating the road blocks and ground forces, while ensuring Zemo dies.

Not the best plan, but...eh whatever works.

I looked down and saw Jean stand up in front of the HYDRA forces, stepping in front of Jane and Loki.

Zemo gestured to her to step aside; she shook her head in refusal. Zemo shook his head in disappointment.

Then he shot Jean in the leg, puncturing her femoral artery.

And I saw red.

-X-

 **MAXIMUM SPEED.**

I leapt off the terrace of the school, slamming into the nearest quinjet.

The startled load master didn't even get a chance to look surprised as I punched him in the wind pipe, breaking it. I launch myself into the cockpit, slamming my knife into the base of the skull of the right hand pilot, then slicing off the head of the left hand one. I activate the hover option and toss both the pilots into the back. I then take control of the quinjet and spool up the main gun.

" _Echo-3-1, your weapons systems are showing as active, respond over"_ came a voice over the radio.

"SECOND, hack into their flight systems and kamikaze them into the roadblocks" I said, knowing it would be easy as pie for him.

 **AFFIRMATIVE.**

I heard discordant yells as the other quinjets immediately accelerated and, with the voices over the radio screaming, crash into the roadblocks, detonating into fireballs.

In the meantime, I acquired the crowd of troops, who were distracted by the sudden change in fortunes, and open fire.

My volley of rockets obliterate their rear elements, while the gun shreds their forward elements. I then send the quinjet into a screaming dive, locking it in with SECOND's help ad launch myself out of the aircraft. I toss out a rune stone into the crowd of hostages, shielding them from the crash.

 **MAXIMUM ARMOUR.**

I slam into the ground, while the quinjet explodes on crashing. Suddenly, an impact on my right temple jars me. I roll with the impact, flipping to my feet just in time to bring my knife up to block a slash from Zemo.

"I had come to recruit you, but now I think you are too much trouble to keep alive" he commented as he aimed a spinning kick at me, which I blocked with my left arm. Swapping knife arms, I stab him through the ankle. He lets out a cry of agony, but stabbed me through the stomach.

 **MAXIMUM STRENGTH.**

I grip his sword arm by his elbow and upper arm and snap it.

He let loose an immensely satisfying (to me) howl of pain. I slide the sword out of my injury, give it a good shake to clean it off blood. I then reach out and pull off his face mask.

The feared Baron Zemo turned out to be a sallow skinned, gaunt faced brunette with brown eyes streaming with tears of pain. I flipped my visor up to look into his eyes and say one word.

" _ **Legilimenes**_ " I intoned, focussing my entire magic into a nanometer thin needle of power, completely focussed. I tore apart his shields, first punching through them, then blasting them open through overpressure waves. I quickly disable all the psi-traps he had in his mind, and then rip his mind to shreds while I download the information from him.

Names, places, dates, plans, technology. All laid bare to me.

By the time I was finished, Baron Helmut Zemo was a gibbering wreck.

I hit him on the temple, knocking him out. I flick out his sheath and slide the sword in. I then look around and see a small crowd around where Jean had collapsed. I jog over to see a small pool of blood on the ground where she was shot. Her skin had a greyish pallor to it.

Loki and Jane, with able assistance from the janitor and Darkholme providing the necessary medication from a first aid kit, were managing to stem most of the bleeding.

" **Make a hole, I need to heal that** " I said to the crowd, pushing my way through. I drop to my knees next to her, summoning up healing magic into my palms, causing them to glow a light blue.

As I reach out, a hand shot out to stop me. I look up to see Summers. Thank god I flipped my visor down.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked me. I radiate a complete sense of being utterly unimpressed and underwhelmed at his trying to be the alpha male. I'm tempted to back hand him, but decide to settle on sarcasm.

" **I'm trying to extract the bullet and heal her.** _ **Back off**_ " I replied as I shrug my hands out of his grip. I then look at Jane and Loki and say " **Undo the bandage, I'll extract the bullet and heal her. Its next-gen tech, that's all I'm going to say about it** "

Jane and Loki shared a look, to which Loki nods. He undoes the bandage and I place my palms over the wound. A slight rippling in her wound pulled a scream from Jean. I ignored it and focus on pulling out the bullet. A couple of seconds later, a small ball of lead levitated out of her. I then begin the process of knitting her bone, muscle and circulatory system. A muffled groan from her later, her skin knitted over the wound, leaving a small puckered scar. I shakily get up from where I was kneeling. Healing magic always took it out of me. I then turn to Loki, Jane and Darkholme, while in the distance I heard sirens. Time to make my exit.

" **She's lost blood. Get her to drink fluids. Water, juice, anything. And I think I had better make my exit now** " I said, after seeing their affirmative nods.

"Wait" came a weak voice. I turned to see Jean trying to get up into a sitting position.

" **You should be resting you know** " I said, kneeling next to her. Huh, how did I get there so fast? She reaches up to cup my cheek. I automatically cup it with mine.

"Who are you? What's your name?" she asked me, her voice thin and on the edge of consciousness. I think for a second. The sirens were coming awfully close, about 400 metres out. SECOND was urging me to get out of there, _now_.

" **A friend. And they c **all me Prophet**** " I replied. She gave me a weak nod in response. I stand up and jog off towards the tree line.

 **CLOAK ACTIVATED.**

-X-

 _Date: 30th July 2008, Time: 1907 hrs. Location: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, Westchester County, New York. POV: Jean Grey_

I walked into the Institute, Scott behind me, a bouquet of flowers in one hand, a book in the other and a smile on my face.

A small hand written letter was safely tucked in my book. The letter, which I must have read atleast eight times on my receiving it, said,

 _Jean,_

 _I am so sorry I couldn't be there for you. I had just gone out to investigate the explosion when some rubble hit my head. I was out for the count with a concussion._

 _But now I found out you were shot. I came as fast as I could, but when I enquired at the reception desk, they didn't let me in. So, I sent all of this for you. I hope it makes up for my absence._

 _I'll see you when school starts._

 _Yours,_

 _John_

The silly goose. A phrase which I caught from his mind, which seemed appropriate right now.

"Ah, Jean. I am glad to see you on your feet. How are you feeling?" Professor Xavier asked me as he wheels up to me, his face furrowed in concern. On seeing him, I do something completely impulsive.

I walk upto him and give him a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

His stunned expression is _so_ worth it.

"I'm glad to be alive Professor" I say honestly. And I am, really. And if it weren't for Prophet's intervention, I would probably still be in hospital, or worse dead. As it is, the doctor's warned me that I will be able to tell when the weather is going to change from now on. Logan, Storm and Hank look at me with mixed expressions of concern, amusement and affection. I walk upto them and quickly hug them. After that close encounter, I decided I wasn't going to take anything and anyone for granted ever again.

"Hey Logan, Jean got something for ya" Scott says as he hands over the grease stained paper bag to him. He takes a deep inhale of the bag and practically begins drooling.

"Slamburgers?" he asks me, surprised that I remembered.

I nod and say "Three Slamburgers" I hold up three fingers, emphasising the same. He gives me the biggest smile I have ever seen, lighting up his entire face, knocking atleast a decade of his face. And Storm had _definitely_ noticed. He then opens up his arms and says "C'mere"

I immediately oblige with a big hug. I hear chuckles and turn to see Rouge, Kitty, Kurt and Spike behind me. I practically launch myself and give the four of them a big group hug.

 _God,_ am I emotional today or what?

I gave my friends, especially my two soul sisters a big grin, and then I turn to look at the Professor. Before I could say anything Ororo spoke up, looking at my bouquet.

"These are lovely flowers. Red roses, white lilies, a striped carnation, an azalea, a red and a white camellia?" She looked at the flowers, her gaze puzzled.

"Oh my stars and garters, it's a message!" Hank said, his voice filled with admiration. Scott gives a slightly amused snort.

"A message?" Spike asked, his voice sceptical. Hank gives an empathic nod.

"Indeed. Back during the Victorian period, if I'm not mistaken, it was quite common to encode messages using this method. Though this is more trying to pass on an emotion than a message" he said, giving me a significant look.

"Oooh, what does it say?" Kitty asked, her voice curious. Hank shot her a look, but I catch it and decide to head it off immediately.

"I'm curious too Doctor. Would you translate it?" I ask him. He looked at me, his expression concerned.

"Are you sure Jean? It's quite private" he asked. At my nod, he sighs "Well, the red roses symbolise thankfulness. As you can see, they are the most prominent. So the primary emotion is thankfulness. The lilies are the next prominent flower. White lilies symbolise purity, so this is a friendship with no ulterior motive. Or alternatively, majesty. Or even to say that it's heavenly to be with you. The striped carnation symbolises rejection. Or as in this case an apology that they cannot be with you. The azalea is to express a desire for you to be careful. And finally, the camellias. The white is to symbolise that, essentially, the sender thinks you are adorable. The red one though, is for passion. A flame in his heart" As he goes on explaining, my cheeks burn hotter and hotter, while my inner romantic is doing a gleeful dance in my head.

The rest of the team are staring at me with their jaws on the ground. Kurt finally breaks the silence.

"Do you think that the person who sent you these could give lessons?" he asked. Spike nodded his head in shock, while Kitty and Rouge have the biggest grins I have ever seen. Ororo decided to add her two cents in.

"I see someone else is completely smitten with you Jean" she said, smirking. Normally, I would groan in frustration at our resident agony aunt's statement, but in this case, I'm willing to make an exception.

"Sounds like a keeper kid. Gonna introduce him to us?" Logan asked. And there was my opening.

"Actually, it is about him that I wanted to speak to you about Professor" I said. At the Professor's nod, I take a deep breath.

"His name is John Shepherd. And he's a mutant" I say. I hold my hand up to forestall any comments, though the Professor is giving me a considering look. I continue "I accidentally reached out to his mind today when I met him. He had fully formed psi-shields. And when Scott confronted him, I felt an energy surge from him, twice. Show them Scott" I say. He sighed, but obliges taking off his glasses. Everyone is surprised by the fact that they aren't char-broiled yet. He then looks to a hideous china figurine, which everyone knew the Professor hated, but didn't get rid of. He focussed and twin energy beams shot out from his eyes, smashing it to bits.

"Thank you Scott. I have wanted to get rid of it for some time now" the Professor remarks dryly. Logan smirked at Scott, who blushed.

Once everyone stopped gaping in shock, I then continue "Later, during the attack, I recognised his psi-signature. Particularly when he gave me his codename" I took a deep breath and announce the most important thing.

"John Shepherd is Prophet"

-X-

 **Next chapter: The Spider and The Hawk**


	5. Chapter 5

_5\. The Spider and The Hawk_

 _Date: 24th August 2008, Time: 1141 hrs. Location: Warehouse 53, Brooklyn Harbour, Brooklyn, New York. POV: John Shepherd_

I inscribed the rune for 'fire' in conjunction with a blasting hex on the outside of the grenade launcher I had in my hands, developing a magically powered grenade launcher. Satisfied, I slot the launcher onto the rifle and place the completed weapon onto its location on the weapons rack.

How did I come by this piece of real estate? I had gone exploring Hell's Kitchen on the 3rd, and noticed none other than Matt Murdock, the very man I wanted to meet, entering a bar.

 _My curiosity piqued, I follow him in and see him ordering a drink. I decided to walk up to him and introduce myself._

 _"Matt Murdock?" I asked him. He turned to look at me. With his super senses, I wouldn't put it past him._

 _"That's me. And you are?" he asked me._

 _"A client, with the need for resolution of a common problem. May we conduct the rest of our discussion somewhere private?" I said. He raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to humour me._

 _We headed over to a private booth, at the back of the bar. I sat facing the door._

 _"Ok, so talk" Murdock said gruffly._

 _"Wait one, I need to make sure that no one overhears us" saying that, I start setting up anti-eavesdropping, anti-Muggle and Notice-Me-Not charms. Once done, I look to Murdock, who was watching me with interest._

 _"Now we can talk" I said. He cocked his head at me._

 _"Ok, what's with all that? Planning to kill someone?" he asked, mock-serious. My voice is as serious as the Arctic pack ice._

 _"Kingpin" I reply. He looked at me in shock, then made to get up. I knock his staff out from under him, catching him by his shoulders._

 _"I know who you are_ Dare Devil _, and eliminating Kingpin and his gang of coyotes would do us all a huge favour. He's planning to meet a HYDRA shipment on the 13th night. I plan to take out the lot of them, but I need back up. You're the backup" I say._

 _"Meet me on 5th and West Avenue at twenty hundred hours. I'll brief you there. If you're in, we'll meet. If you're not" I shrug at that and walk over to the bar and throw two hundred dollar bills on the counter, then walk out._

 _Murdock, thankfully, joined me and decided to bring a couple of friends along._

 _Hawkeye and Widow._

 _Ok, the fuck? Am I getting an All-Stars intro with the main Marvel movers-and-shakers? Not that I'm complaining, makes future meetings with them less awkward._

 _Initially, both the SHIELD agents were sceptical, especially Romanov, who openly questioned my leadership. I finally lose my patience._

 _"_ ** _Look lady, I have made a practically_** **Victorian _society into a_ space-faring _civilisation, united a_ galaxy _, fought and won against an_ extragalactic _threat and took on a rouge PMC with delusions of global domination , and won. I can kill everyone there within 30 seconds, but might loose the advantage of surprise in those 30 seconds. That's why I asked Dare Devil here for back up. With you two, it'll be over in 10_** _" I practically snarl at her. When she starts smirking, I realised I had been played._

 _"Oh_ touche _, Mademoiselle Widow,_ touche _. You did that on purpose, didn't you ?" my question was purely rhetorical at that. But her impish smile was all the answer I needed. Shaking my head, I outlined my plan._

 _On the 15th, at 2200 hours trucks raced into the docks. They quickly peeled off, setting up a perimeter. The Kingpin and HYDRA guards intermingled, as Kingpin and the HYDRA team leader met._

 _"_ ** _Prophet in position_** _" I said into my radio, taking position 5 meters from the two ringleaders after having set up charges on the HYDRA vehicles._

 _"Widow in position" Romanov called in, after sabotaging and booby trapping the Kingpin's cars (for the less observant, notice I am not using Kingpin's actual name. Because soon, it will be irrelevant)._

 _"Hawkeye, providing over watch" Barton called in. He had taken up position on a loading crane overlooking the ambush site._

 _"Dare Devil, in position" came Murdock's voice. I then press two short taps into my radio transmit switch._

 _As agreed, Hawkeye's arrows punched through the skulls of Kingpin and the HYDRA henchman, then detonate, wiping their heads from existence._

 _Romanov and I detonate our charges, keeping the rest of the thugs' off-balance, then open fire with our assault rifles. Meanwhile, Murdock provided us with perimeter security._

 _Honestly, it wasn't even a fair fight. It was a turkey shoot._

 _By the time the echoes of the last shot died, the thugs were all dead._

 _No witnesses._

 _Perfect._

 _"_ ** _Barton, stay on over watch. Dare Devil, perimeter security. Romanov, help me police the bodies_** _" I said, when suddenly the entire area was floodlit and quinjets winked into existence around us. I then hear slow, rhythmic clapping._

 _"I have to admit, I am_ very _impressed" came a deep baritone voice. I turned to see a tall, broad shouldered African-American with an eye patch, dressed in black with a black full length coat. I couldn't suppress the sigh I released, having half-expected this to happen._

 _"_ ** _Director Nicholas Joseph Fury, I presume?_** _" I said, turning around to look at him._

 _"We have a lot to talk about,_ Prophet _" he said, looking at me intently with his remaining eye._

-X-

The upshot of all of this was that I got a new base with a direct hotline with SHIELD headquarters, with all the equipment being provided free of charge to me in thanks for informing them of their HYDRA infestation.

With Murdock's help, I legally took over ownership of Warehouse 53. Then I cast a _Fidelius_ on it, with Widow being the Secret Keeper.

Why you might ask?

Simple really.

The Black Widow is a master spy and assassin, who Fury trusted implicitly. Therefore, she was someone who I should trust too.

Plus, the idea of having a room in a building that no one could find had a great degree of appeal to her. Also I was designing techno-magical aids for spying and assassination for her. Talk about catnip for a cat.

Besides, when it came to the _Fidelius_ , the caster cannot be the Secret Keeper. Something to do with making the fabric of the spell unstable.

Meh. How many people can say that they have The Black Widow as a roommate?

Plus she was more than happy not to tell anyone else where the base was, even from Fury. When I asked her about it, she replied with an impish smile "A girl's gotta have secrets"

Besides, right now, I was planning how to setup a regular source of income, yet maintain a degree of independence from all the other entities. Including SHIELD.

Maybe I should jump start the Illuminati. After all, I did it in the previous two dimensions.

"Huh, this is interesting" commented Natasha from her place on the couch in the living room where she was lounging in a skimpy bra and pyjama shorts, reading from her tablet. I turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. She gave me a 'butter won't melt in my mouth' smile, which caused my second eyebrow to be raised. She gives a small sigh when I made a 'go on' gesture, but obliged me.

"A Doctor Stephen Strange, a world-renowned neurologist, got into a motor accident. He survived, but has lost fine motor control of his hands" she said, without breaking eye contact.

Involuntarily, my lip twitched to which she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. I just look at her, my face a pleasant mask.

"Ok, what is it about this that caught your attention?" she asked me.

"Something that he will grow to be" I reply as I get back to the armoury.

"Will he be a threat to humanity?" she asked me, knowing that asking me a direct question would get better results. This is after she tried seducing me. Not that I didn't enjoy it, even if I do say so myself, giving as good as I got, but shut it down the minute it became physical.

I look at her long and hard, leaning against a wall with my arms crossed over my chest, considering how much I should tell her. I then say,

"He will be humanity's sword and shield against extra-dimensional threats, things that make HYDRA, terrorists and The Red Room look like a bunch of amateurs. Beings whose mere presence would cause the mortal realm to collapse under the weight of their presence. Entities of such power, that I dare not take their name for fear of attracting their attention to this world" I replied, my voice coming straight from off the coast of Archangel in December. Natasha actually shivered at my mention of The Red Room. Once I'm done with HYDRA, The Red Room is definitely next on my list, followed by A.I.M.. Or whatever the organisation in its nascent form was.

"There are things worse than The Red Room?" she asked me, her voice quavering. I get off the wall and join Natasha on the couch, gathering her in my arms. I pull her in for a hug, while I rub her shoulders to comfort her. Initially a tense and quivering mass of muscle, she slowly loosened up.

Funny thing I've noticed, anywhere else Natasha was a little stiff and her mask was firmly in place. In here, she dropped it entirely.

It's quite refreshing actually.

"Natasha, look at me please" I say. She hesitantly looks up at me, looking like the lost and scared girl she had been when she had been picked by those bastards.

The Red Room was going down.

After I burn HYDRA into ashes.

"Here, please put this on" I say, giving her a small locket and chain. She looked at it, her lips twitching in amusement.

"Ok, I'll bite. What does this do?" she asked me.

"It's simply put an overcharged teleportation device, designed to automatically transport you through the gaps in space and time and smash through all types of shielding and blocking that can be conceived. It's a one-shot, to be used in the direst emergencies, and will bring you here" I say, neglecting to mention that if she was in the hands of any of the above entities, she might be beyond any help. But I was going to be doing my damnest that she comes back.

She puts it on, then gives me a look of pure happiness. And then pulls me onto her lips.

AND it's a completely soul searing kiss.

And also my first. In any life.

Am I pathetic or what?

After a few minutes of us kissing, she breaks the kiss and looks at me with complete happiness.

And utters two words, of complete and utter gratitude.

"Thank you"

I just nod in reply, pulling her head onto my shoulder as I card her hair.

-X-

 **Next chapter: Priority 1: Sokolvia**

 **A.N.: No, this is not a harem story. Their amusing in parodies or pure smutfics, but this is going to be a lot darker. The main character may end up dating a few of the ladies, or not. But don't expect anything between him and Widow. Just a strong, deep friendship and companionship, which will carry over throughout the series.**


	6. Chapter 6

_7\. Basic Sociology 101: Jean Grey_

 _Date: 13th October, 2008, Time: 1405 hrs. Location: Bayville High, Bayville, New York State POV: John Shepherd_

I continued typing in the computer, watching the 3-D modelling software. I currently had a free period and was working in the lab. Trying to recreate medigel was harder than it looked. The damn platinum suspension just didn't remain stable. Gah! The damn thing wasn't working!

I put my burning forehead against the wood table, hoping it would absorb some of the heat. I felt cool hands with long fingers start massaging my neck. I knew who it was by their psi-presence, but I decided to keep it under wraps as I look up.

"Hey Jean" I said, my voice slightly slurred from her ministrations. I'm kind of torn up between Jean and Natasha right now. In Natasha's case, well our physical age difference is a barrier. That didn't stop our friendship with each other, just kind of made me wonder about things.

But in Jean's case…well. Firstly, she's already in a relationship, and if there is one thing I _never ever_ do is interfere with an established relationship. Secondly, our ages. I may be a year younger than her, but I have three lifetimes of experience, making her seem like a child to me. Honestly, now I look back at it, the first time I threw her out of my head, I was left wanting to hit my head against a wall until my skull cracked.

Hermione would be _ashamed_ of me.

Thinking what my third cousin's reaction would be if she could see what I had done, made me involuntarily flinch. Jean's fingers stopped their massage.

"'S'ok, just a knot" I said, to which Jean let out a low hum as she got back to it. Once my neck was nice and loose, I gently set my hand over hers and straighten up, shooting her a smile.

"Thanks" I said, to which she responds with a bright smile.

"You're welcome! What are you working on?" she asked me, looking at the computer screen curiously.

"A colloidal suspension which will do three things" I reply holding up three fingers "Firstly deliver an anaesthetic" I close my ring finger, "Secondly, clean out the wound" my index finger is remaining pointing "Lastly, coagulate the blood and harden into a resin to protect internal organs from further trauma" I concluded, taking a deep breath. Her eyes widen in surprise, and there's a spark of interest in there.

"Wow, that sounds cool!" she said, drawing out a chair and sitting down and looking at the computer model I was working on. I grimace.

"Yes, the only problem is that the platinum suspension I have, it in doesn't remain stable. All models break down after 20 minutes. Plus it mixes into and gets pumped into the blood stream, causing toxicity. Platinum is a known carcinogen….." my voice trailed off as she looks at me, her forest green eyes curious.

"What?"

"I'm a moron" I replied flatly, my voice terse as I rework the entire model, recalling the issues that existed in the platinum suspension based medi-gel. That's why Sirta were given bad press. And they replaced it with….

"Fullerenes. Design them to contain the payload until contact with a protein rich environment. The fullerenes break down and form a mesh, clearing out the wound, becoming a sheet of graphene, while the coagulant is to respond to oxygen, hardening immediately. The rest of it is proteins and fats, forming a sponge like mass, which would encourage healing and ensure organ integrity. Hah, beat that!" I say as I input the new model.

And the damn thing works!

Beat that platinum!

"Hah!" I said, pulling a startled Jean into a hug. And I get a whiff of her scent.

It reminds me of cut grass in the early morning, with a hint of rain. Fresh and clean.

And it makes my heart pound and my stomach do a back flip.

I let go of her fast, my cheeks burning. Hers were also tinged pink, and she had a shy, embarrassed smile on her face.

"Um..sorry about that" I say, massaging the back of my neck. She's running her hand through her hair, her neck exposed and her smile drops a little bit.

"Aren't we friends?" she asked me, her voice a little hurt. I immediately rush to reassure her of that.

"Yes we are…I mean if you think so, I guess? I mean you don't exactly just take out a sign board saying we're friends right?" her smile brightens and she glomps me with a hug. Huh, very tactile. I could get used to this.

 _I wouldn't mind if you did_ I hear her voice in my head.

"Of course not silly! And I definitely want to get to know you" at which I drew back and cocked an eyebrow at her. She immediately scowls, while her cheeks flush a deeper pink and she punches me in the shoulder, her emerald eyes blazing.

"Not like that, you prat!" she says, her eyes widening in shock, as her hand flies up to her mouth as if to cover it. Which caused both my eyebrows to rise, while a teasing grin tugs at the corners of my mouth. The grin became a smirk as I can hear her mental panicking.

" _Prat?_ Been reading Austen have you?" I said, throwing her a bone. She immediately took it.

"Yeah, _Pride And Prejudice_ is my favourite" she replied, which causes me surprise.

"Funny that, it's mine too. I rather like Liz Bennet, tough and no-nonsense. I rather like that about her" I said, causing her to get startled.

"You read Austen?!" she asked, her voice emanating surprise, as I pull her to her feet, letting go of her to save and shut off my work. I give her a mock-offended look.

"What do you take me for? A cultural philistine?!" I said, placing my hand over my heart as if she had mortally wounded me.

She responded by smacking me in the shoulder as she grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the lab.

"C'mon, I want you to meet some of my friends" she said as she pulls me along the corridor.

And honestly I couldn't argue with the view. Athletic woman with fiery red, waist length hair, with brains, guts and equally fiery temperament?

Who am I to resist that? Still too young. But maybe in a few years...

But now, now she needs a friend.

And I swore I would be the best friend she could ever have.

 _-X-_

 **Next chapter: _Basic Sociology 102: The X-Men_**


	7. Chapter 7

_8\. Basic Sociology 102: The X-Men_

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1915 hrs. Location:_ _Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, New York State POV: Jean Grey_

I was ostensibly studying, but in reality my mind was off in lala land. I know, like seriously, a telepath who daydreams? But, I couldn't help myself!

I mean, have your own knight in shining armour, who goes about saving your school and your friends from a hostage situation, and then save your life! Then, within two weeks becomes a central figure in your life by befriending you! Then tell me if you wouldn't be in lala land too! And also proves to be better boyfriend material than your actual boyfriend. While making it clear that he's only your friend.

Though, there's definitely something dark about him. It was like a cloak, dark and malevolent.

But, isn't the forbidden fruit the most tempting?

I hear someone knock on the frame of my door and turn to see Scott, my best friend since I joined the institute. I smile in invitation and he enters my room.

Scott has loosened up ever since he could control his powers and he was going around without those horrible glasses. Whatever John did, he made Scott into something remotely resembling a human being.

Even Rogue's noticed, which probably explains her looking at him like he's a tasty piece of meat. Looks which Scott returned.

Funnily enough, I sensed an energy surge towards Rogue from John today when we met with the gang. With the end result of Rogue being a lot more…physically affectionate.

Who knew the angsty Goth with self confidence issues was a hugging person? And she had a sunny, snarky personality, getting into snark battles with Kurt, Spike and Pyro.

Even the Professor had been taken aback by this side of her.

"So…. I noticed you and Rogue being cozy by the couch today…" I opened, my tone slightly teasing. Scott began blushing; poor boy needs to work on that.

"Well, she's nice now. I mean, earlier, with all her hang ups on her mutation. But now, she's got control over it. It's given a huge confidence boost to her. You sure it's your new boyfriend's doing?" he said, throwing it right back at me.

It was my turn to blush, which was from a combination of embarrassment and shame. I mean, I was in a relationship with Duncan. But, out of the blue, I meet a calm, self possessed junior, who doubles up as some sort of energy mutant/ cyborg with a hero complex.

It didn't hurt that he took out time from everything to help out people who weren't as studious, coaching them and getting them to improve their grade point average. Even Kitty's boyfriend, Lance Alvers and his group of petty thugs have fallen in line.

Actually, ever since he has joined the school, he has quietly taken over the entire school. Quietly and efficiently, no fuss from any senior. He's polite, helpful and _dangerous_. Oh, he masks it very well. But that mantle of darkness around him? I've only felt it from one other.

Magneto. And compared to him, John, or _Prophet_ , had a concentrated dose of it.

I once mentioned to him that he didn't walk so much as stalk the corridors of the school, like an apex predator. He gave me a shark like smile, all white teeth, eyes flashing with a primal joy that left me with a horrible blush and a desire to use the restroom.

According to the newspapers, that terrorist group whose attack he smashed was called Hydra. Apparently it was in existence back in the Second World War, part of the Nazi 'Wunderwaffen' team. The fact that something that had the capabilities to nearly bomb the Eastern Coast off the map back in late 1944, only to be thwarted by the sacrifice of Captain America, a PR stunt turned super soldier, is a terrifying thought. And the fact that they had survived well into the 21st century made it all scarier.

And according to what I overheard from a conversation between Professor X, Logan, a man in a black coat called Fury and _freaking_ Superman, Prophet was behind burning them all to the ground and salting the earth off them.

So, in all fairness, what chance did a bunch of school kids like us have against someone who goes about destroying terrorist organizations?

"I wonder what he's up to" I murmur, wondering about where he was, which Scott picks up on.

"Guessing by what you've told us and what he seems to have done? He must be off tearing up another terror organization" Scott replies. I can't help but nod in reply.

"Yeah, that must be what he's doing" I respond, nodding my head in agreement. Our heads snapped up when our personal communicators started ringing.

" _Professor's got two mutant possibles and a confirmed mutant in the area of the Carpathian Mountains. Signals weak, and area is too large to cover, so the whole team has to suit up and get a move"_ came Logan's brusque, no-nonsense voice, as we rushed off towards the lockers downstairs. But something was bothering me.

Something about this mission got my hair standing on end.

I shook it off, dismissing it nerves as I got suited up for the mission.

 _-X-_

 _Date: 3rd November, 2008, Time: 0915 hrs. Location:_ _In Central Russia, Russia POV: John Shepherd/Prophet_

I slunk along the ground, staying in cover as much as possible, staying alert for patrols and ambushes.

I reached the edge of the tree line and observed the compound, making a note of the activity, or lack in this case.

According to Bucky, this was a Red Room facility, where they had a central storage site, giving a list of all the other facilities.

Nat corroborated on that, explaining that this site was used as a debriefing and record maintenance facility, where R2 agents got a chance to unwind in.

I knew it was something even more useful.

 _Intelligence_.

I shifted into a crouch and activated my active camo, making my way warily towards the compound.

It wasn't much to look at, a hunting lodge in the middle of the wilderness, connected to the nearest civilization by a single lane dirt track.

I warily approached the facility, my senses on high alert. Along with the suit's sensors, I had cast a super-sensory charm, keeping me alert as to what was happening around me that I couldn't see.

I entered it to find it filled with, nothing. Lots of cobwebs, old furnishings and windy walls.

As I made my way to the centre of the building, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

 _ **MAXIMUM SPEED**_ **.**

I slammed my way through the wall before I'm picked up in the blast of the missile impact. I rolled with the landing, coming to my feet as I draw my suppressed Tavor.

 _ **PROXIMITY ALERT. MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_ **.**

" _ **Boss, I'm engaging the bogeys. Do you need CAS?**_ " ARTEMIS asked me over the COM.

"Negative, I'll handle 'em" I reply slotting two of the R2 agents who had broken cover.

Suddenly, something along the lines of a freight train slams into me. I go flying into a tree, smashing it apart. Somewhere in the impact, I lost my rifle.

I look up to see a tall, powerfully built man in burnt red armour, complete with helmet, an ominously glowing jewel in his chest. Standing to his left was a slightly short man with armoured skin and on the right was a petite blonde carrying an energy blade.

Juggernaut, Colossus and Magik.

Looks like I'm in for it now.

" _ **Bring it**_ " I said, to which Magik cocks her head at me and smirks at someone behind me.

I turn around to see someone with red hair and glowing blue eyes before I'm psychically sucker punched.

"Consider it brought" came a lilting, Russian voice as I black out, knowing I had failed the mission and was now in enemy hands.

Sometimes, my life _sucks_.

 _-X-_

 **Next chapter: Ambushed!-I**


	8. Chapter 8

_9\. Ambushed! (I)_

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1315 hrs. Location: Carpathian Mountains POV: Jean Grey_

I moved through the boreal forest as quietly as I could, just a faint rustling as Spike and Kitty followed on my flanks. I slowly expanded my sense of awareness around me, trying to detect the mutant signatures.

"This is Wolverine" came Logan's voice over TEAMCOM "Site Alpha is clear, nothing to report. Enroute to Site Beta"

"This is Cyclops. No signs of life at Site Gamma. Oscar-Mike to Site Delta" Scott reported in. I share a glance with my team and we start moving towards what we identified as Site Epsilon. It was the last of the five bases we had found.

And it was my first time as a team leader.

"This is Grey. Approaching Site Epsilon" I said as we slowly approached the base. I absolutely detest my codename 'Marvel Girl'. Makes me sound like a campy super heroine.

We approach the base, when my radar goes off.

"SPIKE! SHIELD! 3 O'CLOCK!" I yell, causing Spike to reflexively hold up his bone shield, which immediately blocks a laser blast.

An oddly _familiar_ laser blast.

I turn around on hearing a _snnkt_. I look to see Wolverine launch himself at us with a yell.

I reflexively blast him away with a telekinetic blast, throwing him into the treeline. Suddenly from behind, an ice blast, _Bobby's_ ice blast, comes flying at Kitty. Who looks frozen in shock.

"KITTY!" I yell, trying to snap her out of it as I ready a TK blast to knock her out of the way, leaving me open to the ice blast.

The ice blast never hit her as something struck it, flash freezing it.

Gunfire came from the left, striking Bobby.

"X-Men, retreat!" I hear Scott over the TEAMCOM, before a loud squealing sound and an overpowered optic blast hit our location, causing the three of us to fly off.

I land heavily on the ground, the air being knocked out of my lungs. As I lay there, gasping for air, a shadow crosses over me.

"Need a hand?" asks a twangy male voice, a hand swimming into view. I gratefully accept it. As he pulls me to my feet, my vision cleared to reveal a handsome, blonde man with clear blue eyes, a small scar marring his chin, his expression concerned. He's dressed in combats, an assault rifle in his hands.

I shoot him a grateful smile as I speak to him "Thank you for saving my team" I could pick up his surface thoughts, knowing that it had been his team that laid down fire to protect us. Which brought me back to my primary concern.

"Why would the rest of my team attack us like this?" I asked aloud. Spike immediately voices his complaint.

"Yeah man, that is so not cool!" he said, supported against a muscular black man with a machine gun.

"Actually, we hope you can help us with that ma'am" the man who got me onto my feet said, framing what was essentially an order as a request. I hesitate for a second, when another voice, smoky and feminine, spoke up from behind me.

"It's alright Jean. These guys are the good guys" she said. I turn to look at a beautiful red headed woman with blue eyes. Dressed in a black, body fitting combat suit, she had a pair of gauntlets on her wrists. A belt encircled her waist with a red hourglass shape embossed on it. She had a strange metal band encircling her temple, glowing with purple lettering.

"I'm sorry, you are…?" I ask, surprised she knows my name. I walk away from the man who helped me up and towards her, readying my TK energies to protect my team.

"Ah yes, introductions. My name is Black Widow and I'm an agent of SHIELD. My teammates are Duke" she pointed at the man who helped me up, who gave a friendly nod "Heavy Duty" the man who was helping Spike shot a smile "Scarlett" the red headed medic who was treating Kitty for her sprained ankle shot me a measuring look, assessing me, before turning back to her job "Cover Girl" a pretty brunette with what looked like a grenade launcher, "Flint" a tough, dark haired man wearing a blue beret and armed with an assault rifle "and Snake Eyes" an actual freaking _ninja_ in black combats turned to look at me. He moved his hands in what I recognized as ASL.

 _Nice to meet you_ he said. I smiled and nodded, replying in ASL _Likewise, wish it could have been under better circumstances_.

 _Too true_ he replied. I turn to Widow to see her interrogatory eyebrow, and Scarlett's surprise, which she schooled away immediately.

"I help out at an orphanage. One of the kids is deaf, so I learnt ASL to be able to speak to him" I reply, and a glimmer of approval flashes across both women's faces.

"So, what happened to my team?" I ask. Widow looked at Duke, who sighed but replied.

"We think they're under the control of a powerful psychic, who's working for a terrorist alliance" he says, his voice heavy with concern and traces of anger.

"Who are they?" asked Kitty, gingerly testing her ankle with Snake Eyes support.

This time Scarlett replies, her voice a Texan drawl.

"They're called Cobra"

 _-X-_

 **Next chapter: Ambushed!-II**


	9. Chapter 9

_10\. Ambushed! (II)_

 _Date: Unknown, Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, POV: John Shepherd_

I slowly regained consciousness, opening my eyes to find myself attached to a chair, my arms and feet secured using rail spikes.

Brutal. But effective.

"Ah, I see our guest is awake" came a male baritone. I look to see a man dressed in black combat armour, wearing a helmet with a reflective visor. On the left side of his chest was a red cobra, its hood flared.

" **Cobra Commander. I'm honoured. How's your son Billy doing?** " I taunt, masking my surprise. Honestly, I should stop getting surprised by this crazy world by now.

I get the reaction I expected.

My head snaps to a side with the force of the blow. He then punches my gut, trying to knock the air out of me. I just slam my head into his helmet, causing him to fly off and land on the ground, his visor broken.

An electric jolt hits me; locking up my suit and making me feel like I was breaking every bone in my body.

 _And so it begins_ I thought to myself as I was hit by another bolt of energy, a psychic bolt powerful enough to cause a breach in my Occlumency barriers. I immediately shore up my barriers, diverting the power of the successive attacks into strengthening my shields, allowing me to indefinitely hold out.

That's when I start getting attacked by the illusions. A hellscape New York, somehow drawing from my memories of the Reapers and Ceph, inferi with husks, Pingers with Brutes, twisted beyond recognition.

A hand clapped on my right shoulder. I turned to look at my mentor and father figure, Admiral Anderson, dressed in a Nanosuit. I turn to see the entire Normandy away team. Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Ash, Kaidan, Miranda, Vega, Kasumi, Grunt, Liara, Samara, Thane, Jack, EDI, Taylor, Javik, Zaeed and Mordin.

All armed to the teeth. All in the Nanosuit armour.

I knew that they were all constructs of my mind, but it was good to see them again.

" **One last ride?** " I asked, to which they all give me a smirk (on Samara's face, it looked downright dangerous).

" **Roll out** " I order as I grasp the two katana I create from my mind and jump down from the multistory I was on. I feel the rest of the team come rushing behind me as I hear the crack of Garrus, Vega, Ash, Thane and Anderson's sniper rifles, the roaring laughter of Wrex and Grunt and the biotics being launched by Liara, Samara, Jack, Miranda, Kaidan and Taylor. I unsheathe my blades, and with a roar launch myself at the army arrayed before me.

 _-X-_

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1617 hrs. Location: Red Room/Cobra joint operations base POV: Anastasia 'Baroness' Cisarovna_

I was leaning against the wall, waiting for the interrogation session to get over. Considering it has been nearly a day, I was getting a little nervous. Especially since my boss was carted off hours ago, unconscious, with his helmet broken.

Normally, Magik and Maddie would break even a Joe within ten minutes. The longest they ever took was thirty minutes, against The Red Skull. And they both had nightmares after that, considering the man's depraved imaginings that he used as a defence.

The bolts securing the door of the interrogation room were shot back to reveal a bedraggled bunch of interrogators. I made my way over to the girls, Illyana supporting Maddie, who looked out for the count. Colossus followed after them, his face grim, with blood splattered all over him.

"What happened in there?" I exclaimed as I support Maddie from the other side. A grimace crosses Illyana's pinched face.

"We managed to break into the first layer of his defences, some kind of forcefield, even damaged the second layer, a pretty good construct of New York. We got memories of him fighting all kinds of creatures and recreated them, tried overwhelming him with numbers. He and some defences he created butchered their way through until they found and captured us. He then hogtied us and left us in a room with those _damn_ Teletubbies singing their song, while draining us of energy to reconstruct his defences. He then booted us out" she replied. I winced, especially as Maddie started humming the Teletubbies main theme.

"Best part? He did this while my brother and the Juggernaut were beating him up!" I couldn't help shaking my head in disbelief at that as we made our way to their shared quarters.

"What is he made of? No interrogation has ever required such... _drastic_ measures" I commented. Colossus then speaks in his rumbling voice.

"Right now Juggernaut and Firefly are _playing_ with him" I immediately turn around, knowing what those two were capable of made my going in and rescuing our prisoner from those psychos.

"Piotr, look after your sister and her girlfriend will you? I need to rescue our prisoner" I order shortly. I head over to the infirmary and grab a trauma kit. I then rush over to the interrogation room to hear Firefly's insane cackling.

"Burn bitch!" he yelled, unleashing a blast from his flamethrower.

" _Enough_ " I order. Whatever you may say about him, Firefly was a consummate professional when you gave him an order. But, he was bipolar as hell.

He immediately switched his flamethrower off. Immediately, Juggernaut got into my face.

" _WHADDHYA MEAN ENOUGH!_ WE GONNA MAKE THAT SONOVABITCH BURN TILL HE BREAKS! WHODJA THINK YOU ARE TO STOP US BITCH?!" he yelled, spit flying.

Ugh.

"Um, Juggernaut buddy, she's the boss's second-in-command. You don't wanna piss her off" Firefly commented. Juggernaut gave a disgusted snort.

"So she's his chief whore. Do you think I care about her opinion?" he commented without breaking eye contact.

"Maybe the vibranium dagger that I'm going to drive into your power crystal would change your opinion? Or the pistol loaded with the same metal as ammunition will?" I say tartly, as I push both weapons against him for emphasis.

We all start when we hear the mocking applause. Our prisoner had somehow managed to not only free himself from the rail spikes, but the damn man was sitting calmly in the chair as if he were watching 'Hamlet' play out in front of him, a coldly amused grin on his face. As we watched, all the burnt, charred flesh glowed with a dim blue white light, his skin healing.

" **I think you'd be well advised to listen to her mate** " he commented, before he launched himself at Firefly. An audible snap and next thing I saw was Firefly's napalm tank being thrown in my direction. I jumped away and was caught in the shockwave of the explosion as the prisoner- _somehow_ -fired a shotgun, detonating the tank. I hit my head against the wall.

The last thing I heard was the Juggernaut screaming and demonic laughter.

 _-X-_

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1618 hrs. Location: On board G.I. Joe Quinjet, above Russian airspace POV: Sgt. Conrad 'Duke' Hauser, Strike One Lead, G.I. Joe_

My eyes fly open as the red headed girl Jean lets out a howl of grief and fear. Her body is flickering with amber flames, her eyes pure white.

" _ **CYTTORAK!**_ " she screams, her voice thrumming with raw, unbridled power. In the next second, her uniform morphs into a white version, emblazoned with a gold hawk. A bright flash later, she vanishes from sight.

"Duke, sitrep!" comes the voice of Widow over TEAMCOM, cutting through the hubbub that was going on.

"I don't know what just happened, but that girl, Grey? She just screamed something, glowed with fire and just vanished!" I reply.

"Sergeant, what exactly did she scream? And where is she?" Widow asked me.

"Sito-something. Grey's dress changed into white, with a gold hawk on the front" I reply.

"Was it... _cyttorak_?" she asked me. I immediately reply.

"Yeah, that's what she said"

"Director Fury, we have a possible Omega level situation here. Sir, its Cyttorak and The Phoenix" I hear Widow say to mission control

Omega level?! I share a panicked glance with my team, while the other two teens looked on in concern.

Didn't realise today's mission would get me a front seat to see the end of the world.

 _-X-_

 **Next Up: Ambushed-Battle Royale!**


	10. Chapter 10

_11._ _Ambushed-Battle Royale!-I_

 ** _A/N: Too big to fit in one go, I'm breaking the chapter into 3 parts._**

 ** _This is the finale of the Arc-1: Arrival. After Ch.14 will Arc-2: Avengers, Assemble! start, dealing with the events of Thor-1, and the events of the run-up to Avengers-1. Arc-3: Invasion will deal with the Battle Of New York and the aftermath._**

 _Date: Unknown, Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, POV: John 'Prophet' Shepherd_

The flames curling around me abruptly cut off. I jerk my head around to rid myself of the ringing in my ears.

 ** _ARMOUR INTEGRITY COMPROMISED: 5%_**

Fuck, need to give myself an energy boost _now_ to break out of this.

I focused my magic into my voice, layering a persuasion charm into it.

 _"Look into my eyes, Firefly_ " I say. Slowly, unwillingly, with a great degree of reluctance, he made eye contact with me.

For the first time in the present situation, I felt a glimmer of hope.

I launch my legillimency probe at him, swiping aside his defences as if they were nothing.

Have nearly 105 years worth of legillimency, you learn a few things.

Like siphoning off parts of the life force of another.

There's a reason Legillimency is classified as a _dark art_. Occlumency, funnily enough, is a _light art_.

I took away enough for me to Vanish the rail spikes and activating the healing/repair runes I had carved into myself.

Everything came at a price.

My body, no, _Alcatraz_ was dying when I found him near the amphib IP. I had been infected by the Manhattan Virus, dying a slow death. The only thing that was keeping me alive was the Suit, but I was essentially on life support. And while I was alive, the Suit wouldn't transfer to another person, hard-locked to my organic signature and bio-rhythms.

I had to make a decision.

I sacrificed myself to allow Alcatraz a chance. But, like I said, everything came at a price.

The Suit, is _alive_.

And it took one look at Alcatraz's damaged body and decided to start replacing organic with organo-synthetics. Will made flesh. And flesh, made steel.

With time, I _absorbed_ Alcatraz's personality and took over his body, my consciousness having been stored in the databanks of the suit.

I was no longer Alcatraz. Nor was I Laurence Barnes.

But, _I_ am _Prophet_.

As these fools will learn. With flame and steel.

 _-X-_

They all start when _I_ start clapping mockingly. The shock and fear on their faces was _delicious_. A prisoner, who had somehow managed to not only free himself from impalement by rail spikes, sitting calmly in the chair as if he were watching a mildly amusing play in front of him, a coldly amused grin on his face, as all the burnt, charred flesh glowed with a dim blue white light, skin healing.

" **I think you'd be well advised to listen to her mate** " I commented, before I launched myself at Firefly. I grabbed him by the chin and the base of his skull. A twist, an audible snap and I grabbed Firefly's napalm tank, using a _Diffindo_ to free it and throw it in the Baroness and Juggernauts' direction. I cast a _Bombarda_ and a _Flagrante_ in quick succession, detonating the tank.

The net result? The two gooks were thrown against opposing walls, knocking the Baroness out and also to _accidentally discharge_ a round right at the centre of the Jewel of Cyttorak.

Now an ordinary bullet would have ricocheted by now. _But_ , this Cobra special had to be made of vibranium. And obviously they doped it up with some _extras_.

What gave it away? Oh, I don't know….maybe the tell-tale eldritch blue glow surrounding it's flight path? Or the microscopic runic script running along the body in a spiral?

It shattered the Jewel of Cyttorak. An explosion of red light, sound, screaming and demonic laughter, whipping the unnatural gale in the room to frenzy, came from the crystal. And I felt a malevolent aura focus on me like I were a mouse in a hawk's gaze.

I was completely outmatched. I closed my eyes, reinforced my shields and felt the presence swoop down on me.

And then blackness.

 _-X-_

I slowly regain consciousness, my eyes opening to see a red sky.

" **Ah, the undying mortal. Welcome to my humble abode** " comes a rumbling voice.

I turn around to see a figure clad in crimson armour, the wave of cold amusement wrapping around us like a miasma.

"Cyttorak" I reply, trying to block out how damn terrifying I found him.

" **Fear not little human, I have no interest in** _ **you**_ **as a vessel.** _ **But,**_ **as my Avatar? You are** _ **perfect**_ " he comments as he summons up holographic screens. On it various scenes played out. Some looked oddly familiar.

Then, I saw it.

The Battle of the Ministry. The Coup. The Battle of Hogwarts. Elysium. Torfan. Eden Prime. Noveria. Virmire. The Battle Of The Citadel. The Assault on the Collector home station. The Fall of Earth. The Unification of Rannoch. The Rebirth of Tuchanka. The Miracle at Palaven. The Siege Of Thessia. Hammer force and the Crucible. The Lingshan islands incident. New York, 2020. The destruction of CELL. The battle against the Alpha Ceph.

Battles I had fought in. Planned. Spearheaded.

A combination of courage, guile and strength shone through. An _arch_ survivor.

" **Now I offer you my strength, freely** " I was a little dumbstruck at the offer. I would be the first to admit that I was a reasonably powerful wizard. I was nowhere near Hermione, Ron, Neville or Luna's class. Let alone Dumbledore.

And Harry and Voldemort? Power clung to them like a cloak. Glad I was there to make sure Harry actually could go toe to toe with Voldemort.

My only advantage was creativity. I would utilize my magic in ways not limited to structure, but formed by _intent_.

But now, an entity was freely offering me strength on a whole other level?

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why?" I ask, my natural caution rearing up.

" **Simple really. You have fought against odds that others claimed were impossible to survive and suceeded. Using your strengths, I have seen you do it again and again. Your soul is simply too stubborn to die** " he replied.

" **So what will your answer be, mortal?** " Cyttorak asked, his eyes locked intently on me.

I take a deep breath and reply.

 _-X-_

My vision slowly returned, my eyes flickering through a dozen different vision modes.

As if someone threw a switch, my hearing returned. And I was drowning in a cacophony of screams, sirens and explosions.

"Master Drakey must get up!" I hear Dobby exclaim next to me. I look to see my loyal house elf standing guard over me, his green light saber lit and his hand outstretched. I look around and am treated to a very alive Baroness, quaking in her boots but unable to move. And a platoon of dead Cobra Vipers. All dead with cauterized slash marks and blunt impact trauma.

"Y-y-y-you h-h-h-have Yoda on y-y-your s-s-s-s-s-side? W-w-w-w-w-we're d-d-d-doomed!" she said shakily. Dobby just could not pass up a chance to rag her.

"Hhm. Young one, the Force within you, it is. Fear you feel, lead to Dark Side it will" he said, in a perfect pitch imitation of Yoda. Causing the Baroness to faint away.

I shot Dobby a look, to which he gave me a shrug and a sheepish smile.

"Could not resist?" he said, his voice apologetic. I shook my head in response.

"You spent way too much time with Sirius and Remus for my comfort" I reply as I get to my feet. Another explosion shakes the structure we're in.

"Dobby, she of any use?" I say as I nod towards the Baroness's unconscious form. He nods in reply. I think fast as I check the weapons I had integrated into my armour (minutarised mass accelerators, with magic replacing eezo. Stopgap measure until I figure out a way to harvest dark matter here).

"Ok, bag and tag her to safe house 24. Alert Fury, and _only_ Fury on her presence. Knock her out with a sedative, secure her to a chair" I order. Dobby nods in reply and with a click of his fingers, Apparates away.

I then look down on myself, to see my armour had changed from a silver-black to a crimson with black highlights, with the Jewel of Cyttorak in the centre of my chest. I look up on hearing the tramp of feet to see a squad of Vipers, all armed and aiming their weapons on me.

I cocked my head as I analysed their positions. Three of them fidgeted nervously on noticing the skeleton of the Juggernaut. I smirked inwardly.

 _ **Yeess, they should fear us**_ whispered the voice of Cyttorak. Having an Elder God, or even a portion of him, taking up accommodation in your head is not a comfortable feeling.

But, there are perks.

 _ **MAXIMUM SPEED**_ I activate my mass accelerators, and open fire on the squad, sweeping my arms up straight to my shoulders. Slowly, their brains catch up to the fact that they are dead as they topple over like nine pins.

 _Let's get to work_ I think as Cyttorak roars in approval.

 _-X-_

I was under cloak when a squad of Vipers came into the corridor, sweeping the area with IR goggles. I wasn't too worried as the suit cloaked heat emissions, so imagine my surprise when they turned their weapons on me and opened fire.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

I dropped cloak and rushed them. And all of them neatly side stepped my charge, getting out of the way of all my spells cast while keeping a rolling barrage of fire on me. Bastards were good, I'll admit, as my energy meter was getting whittled down.

And I have been getting sloppy, relying too much on my magic and suit tech.

I switched to my MAs and opened fire, ducking behind cover. I winged one of them, and while he was being dragged into cover, his team mates kept up a furious fusillade of fire, forcing me behind cover.

Damn, Delta or Team Six level.

And dammit, I need a team. I've been flying solo for too long since I landed up here.

Priority one, survive this op.

Priority two, start recruiting.

Abruptly, the fire stopped. I slowly peeked out of cover to see the guns had been turned onto them as the floated in mid air, while they were curled up on the ground, clutching their heads.

That's when I felt the brush of a familiar psi-presence. A psi-presence which had grown unbelievably strong. As in, restructure the multiverse with barely a thought strong.

 _Jean_ I project with my thoughts.

 _JOHN!_ I hear her yell, causing the Vipers in front of me to collapse. A blinding flash later, she appeared in front of me. And for the first time, I looked at her and _saw_ her. Her body was wreathed in flames, with four wings of fire on her back, a corona of power surrounding her, whipping her wine-red hair floating. Her beautiful, green eyes had been shot through with amber. Her visage was terrifying and awe-inspiring, a goddess come from heaven to exact vengeance among us mortals. And I wanted to fall to my knees in front of her majesty.

She smirks suddenly as if she read my thoughts, her eyes flashing with wicked humour. The same wicked humour that made me want to go skinny dipping in the Arctic Ocean.

 _I wouldn't mind if you did_ she told me in my head. Then her smile dropped, fixing me with a stern look and said, _You and I are going to have a long conversation after this_.

I nodded in reply saying, _We will. But first we need to get out of here and burn it all to the ground._

I suppress the shudder of desire I always feel around her as she steps down on the ground and I walk towards her. She slides her arms around my waist, pulling me into her grip as she rests her head against my chest, her long hair falling to cover her face. Her right hand stroked over the Jewel of Cyttorak, which hums in resonance to her touch, causing her power to flare. As I slipped my arms around her, she let out a sigh, her wings mantling around us. I rested my cheek on her head, taking in her scent, basking in her presence, while my one hand pushed her hair aside, my fingers running through her thick mane.

Our few seconds of bliss was rudely interrupted by a powerful psychic blast, augmented by magic. Powerful enough to feel like a gentle breeze ruffling along the Phoenix-enhanced Jean's barriers. _Yes_ , she is _that_ strong.

Jean shifted her wings enough so that we could see who it was. Madelyn, Illyana and Piotr had arrived, with Storm Shadow and Zartan.

 _You watch my back and I watch yours?_ I asked Jean mentally. She smirks in reply.

 _Do you even have to ask?_ she said as she taps deeper into the Phoenix Force, while I draw on the power of Cyttorak, creating a corona of power around me.

In an instant, we crashed against their TK shield, shattering it. And battle was joined.

 _-X-_

 **Next Up:** **Ambushed-Battle Royale!-II**


	11. Chapter 11

_-Battle Royale!-II_

 ** _A/N: I know what everyone is gonna complain about here is that if Jean is using the Phoenix force, why hasn't she beaten everyone with a snap of her fingers? Simple, she is currently fighting off an Omega level psychic at par with her and a magic user, while blocking the soldiers' fire, and her intrinsic mortal morality prevents her from giving into the Phoenix force completely. Don't worry though, by the time the Chitauri invade, she'll even make Thanos take pause. Just a quarter-second of a pause. But still, a pause. Jean is the actual hero of the story, not John. He just has the privilege of lighting the flame for her to be forged in._**

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1624 hrs. Location: On board G.I. Joe Quinjet, above Russian airspace POV: MSgt. Shana 'Scarlett' O'Hara, Strike One Intel Specialist, G.I. Joe_

I adjusted my footing at my station on the port minigun as Flint banked the Quinjet in the direction of the massive explosions rocking the forest. We approach to see a wrecked and gutted base with a massive crater in the middle, flames licking around assorted vehicles of what was formerly a motor pool of what looked like Cobra vehicles. Amidst all the rubble and explosions, Vipers and Red Room agents were taking cover and firing at two figures, one wreathed in flames and the other having a red cloak of power floating around it, as they fought them all simultaneously while taking on two opponents each.

Looking through the gun's scope, I could see the woman, _Jean_ , was swiping long whips of flames through the crowds of soldiers, causing them to stumble and fall, clutching their heads or curling into balls. One of her opponents, glowing with a blue aura, was clutching her head, while blood dripped from her nose and ears. Then, as if sensing a weakness, four wings of fire were summoned into existence and wrapped around the blue aura, snuffing it out. A horrible, piercing shriek was squelched off. The woman with the massive sword let out a demonic scream as she launched herself at Jean, who neatly sidestepped the overhead slash, then hit her on the point of the chin with a _beautiful_ right cross, dropping her like a light.

Prophet, who we had come to rescue on behalf of the Widow, was holding his own against both Zartan and Storm Shadow, dodging, blocking and occasionally opening fire with some wrist mounted weaponry, causing his opponents to duck and dodge. He even traded fire with the troops surrounding the pit, slotting them at an unbelievable pace. As we watched, he suddenly blurred, slamming a punch into Zartan's throat, then neatly dodging Storm Shadow's thrust, then grabbing the arm, twisting it around and slamming the sword into him. Prophet then kicks Storm Shadow off the blade, causing blood to fountain out.

Now armed with a katana, Prophet again _blurred_. Within a second, he cut a swath through the Vipers surrounding him.

"Well Joes, what are you waiting for? Open fire!" Widow orders us. I press down on the triggers, aiming at the Vipers. The electric motor first spools up with a hum, followed by the noise created by a jackhammer, as it fired at the rate of 2000 rounds per minute. In a ten second barrage, Heavy Duty and I cleared out our landing zone. Flint slowly brought us in to land as we both kept up a steady barrage of fire.

"Landing team, go, go!" I hear Duke yell as pounding feet descended down the ramp. Soon, our barrage is joined with Cover Girl's grenade launcher, scattering the group of Red Room agents that were making their way to our landing zone, and the chatter of the rest of the teams' weapons' fire.

Flint then took us up so we could return to providing CAS. And we watched carnage unfold.

-X-

 _Date: 4th November, 2008, Time: 1624 hrs. Location: Red Room/Cobra joint operations base POV: John 'Prophet' Shepherd_

I sliced off the head of one of the Vipers, summoned his grenade pins wandlessly, then kicked his corpse into a group of enemy soldiers. I somersaulted over them into the next lot, while behind me the grenades detonated.

 _I think I should do that too_ Jean commented idly as she fended off attacks from her brain washed teammates, while trying to undo the programming. It seemed someone did a number on them, psychically bending the X-Men to their will.

 _Darling, why don't you just make them go to sleep for now_ I ask her as I slice up the group of soldiers surrounding me.

 _Won't they be in danger?_ she asked as she deflects Cyclops's optic blasts, hitting Iceman with it, knocking him into Magma and Rogue. She then TK blasts him into Wolverine, causing the two to slam into a tree. _Hard_. She winced in sympathy, but brushes against their minds and satisfies herself that they are ok. I feel her surprise when they suddenly disappear. I send a wave of reassurance to her as I cut my way through another group of Vipers and Red Room agents.

 _A friend_ I say to her, to which she sends me a wave of thankfulness.

Suddenly, a ring of fire converged around me, as a familiar Harrier flew past above us.

 _ **"Sorry for the danger close fire boss"**_ came ARTEMIS's voice **"** _ **Couldn't find your bio-signal until just now, saw you surrounded, decided to take care of them"**_

I sigh, knowing saying anything to her would be pointless.

"Next time, _warn me_ " I reply, as I use SECOND to target mark incoming Cobra reinforcements in the form of a company of troops reinforced with a squadron of HISS tanks that showed up in ARTEMIS's flyby.

A series of explosions mark the destruction of the reinforcements.

Suddenly, Jean was in front of me, and embarrassingly for me, picked me up in a bridal (or should it be bridegroom? And am I not jumping the gun by a huge margin?) carry and flew into the cargo bay of a hovering Quinjet, it's miniguns covering our retreat.

"Flint, all eagles are in the bird, let's go!" I turn to look at a blond man with a scar on his face yell into a radio as a team of soldiers, with Spyke and Kitty, rushed into the Quinjet. The Quinjet lifted off, the guns still hammering away, while ARTEMIS plastered the area with high explosives.

As soon as we were clear, ARTEMIS took up position in formation with us. That's when I realised that Jean still had me in her arms.

 _Um, Jean? You can put me down now_ I said to her. I can sense the wicked amusement from her as she thinks of her reply.

 _I don't know, I kind of like having you in my arms like this_ she replies, a cheeky grin on her face as her eyes, flash white with merriment. I fix her with a completely unamused look.

 _I'm mostly secure in my masculinity, given that I'm a couple of inches shorter than you, but I would feel a little less emasculated if you'd put me down_ I reply, causing her cheeky grin to grow wider.

 _If you say so_ she replies, dropping me.

Thankfully I land on my feet. Before I can say a thing I hear a voice speak up. A familiar, feminine voice.

"John? Care to introduce us?" I turn to look at Natasha Romanoff, a carefully blank look on her face.

 _"Awkwaaarrdd"_ I heard someone mutter onboard the Quinjet as I stood between the two most important women in my life.

-X-

 **And that's a wrap! Truths! Drama! And a sorting out of the tangled mess our hero has landed up in!**

 **Two more chapters, and Arc-1 will be complete! And I thought of including an additional chapter, increasing the length of the battle, but felt that I should move the story along a bit.**

 **Read and Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

_13\. Explanations_

 _Date: 9th November, 2008, Time: 1001 hrs. Location:_ _Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, New York State_ _POV: John 'Prophet' Shepherd_

I was sitting in a comfortable wingback chair, my back rigid with tension as I was being glared at by two red heads. The younger was boring her emerald-green eyes into me like a high energy laser, while the older was looking at me with icy blue eyes, freezing me and my thoughts in place. I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me, so I shut it and blew out a breath noisily. I resigned myself to a slow, torturous death from them as I dropped my gaze to my boots, waiting for the hammer blow.

I hear a sigh from one of them, then the padding of feet, a hand coming into my vision as it pulled my head up to look at a pair of blue eyes. Nat then spoke one word.

"Why?" I felt a smile twitch my lips and asked.

"Why what, Nat? You need to be a bit more specific" I replied, to which she rolls her eyes and shares a look with Jean, who sat down on the arm of the chair, one hand on my shoulder.

"Why did you go hunting the Red Room John? I told you they weren't like HYDRA, they were the things that gave HYDRA nightmares!" Nat continued, her voice having a hint of a quaver in her calm, measured voice.

"Because they were going to hunt you Nat" I reply, my voice calm. I hadn't told anyone why I vanished off, but from whispers I heard in the Russian military-intelligence structure, I had learnt of a special mission being put together by the Red Room on orders of the Russian President.

Find the Black Widow. And kill her.

"And before you suggest that you could have handled them, they were going to deploy an Omega level mutant kill team, with three other teams to box you in. I thought I could handle them on my own. Overconfidence. Nearly got myself killed, stupid" I say, shaking my head at my stupidity, as I take her hand in mine, squeezing it gently. I then turn my gaze to look at Jean, resting my other hand on top of her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I didn't expect your teams or either of you to be in the target area though, how come you were there?" I ask Nat and Jean, genuinely puzzled.

"You're not the only one who bugs all the people he cares about" Nat replied, an enigmatic smile on her face. I frown in thought, when it struck me.

"The dinner you made, the bug was in the juice wasn't it?" I respond, knowing my weakness for lemonade would get me into trouble.

"Honestly, I don't know how you can drink it, it's so... _tart_ " Nat replies, her face scrunching in disgust.

"Yes, as will I never understand your fascination with mango smoothies" I respond, puliing her into a warm hug as I stood up. I notice an unidentified emotion flash across Jean's face as I let go of Nat. I quirk an eyebrow at her, to which she shakes her head in reply.

"Professor X read some mutant signatures in Russia, we went to get them out of the cold" Jean replies.

"Remind me to get him something nice in gratitude" I say as I wrap my arm around her waist. She laid her head on my shoulder, letting out a long exhale.

Nat let out a chuckle, and was about to say something when Doctor McCoy walked in.

"Ah, John. You were right in your suspicions of your DNA" he said, his voice tinged with concern.

I felt my heart fall to somewhere near my feet.

"So, my theory was correct, wasn't it?" I reply, ignoring the puzzled looks from Nat and Jean.

"Yes, yes you were. I have already contacted Doctor Banner and between the Professor and I, we can ensure that General Ross doesn't trouble him" he replies, his gaze only filled with concern.

"What's going on Doctor?" Nat asked, flipping on her Black Widow mask.

"Didn't he tell you?" he asked in surprise, taking in the puzzled looks of both the ladies. He sighed and shot me a despairing look. I, selfish bastard that I am, had hidden my suspicions from both of them. Just so that I may have a few more precious moments in their company.

"He's a mutant"

-X-

 **Next up: Recruitment!**

 **This one was mostly filler, with 15 % plot in it.**

 **Read and Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

_13\. Explanations_

 _Date: 9th November, 2008, Time: 1001 hrs. Location:_ _Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, New York State_ _POV: John 'Prophet' Shepherd_

I was sitting in a comfortable wingback chair, my back rigid with tension as I was being glared at by two red heads. The younger was boring her emerald-green eyes into me like a high energy laser, while the older was looking at me with icy blue eyes, freezing me and my thoughts in place. I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me, so I shut it and blew out a breath noisily. I resigned myself to a slow, torturous death from them as I dropped my gaze to my boots, waiting for the hammer blow.

I heard a sigh from one of them, then the padding of feet, a hand coming into my vision as it pulled my head up to look at a pair of blue eyes. Nat then spoke one word.

"Why?" I felt a smile twitch my lips and asked.

"Why what, Nat? You need to be a bit more specific" I replied, to which she rolls her eyes and shares a look with Jean, who sat down on the arm of the chair, one hand on my shoulder.

"Why did you go hunting the Red Room John? I told you they weren't like HYDRA, they were the things that gave HYDRA nightmares!" Nat continued, her voice having a hint of a quaver in her calm, measured voice.

"Because they were going to hunt you Nat" I replied, my voice calm. I hadn't told anyone why I vanished off, but from whispers I heard in the Russian military-intelligence structure, I had learnt of a special mission being put together by the Red Room on orders of the Russian President.

Find the Black Widow. And kill her.

"And before you suggest that you could have handled them, they were going to deploy an Omega level mutant kill team, with three other teams to box you in. I thought I could handle them on my own. Overconfidence. Nearly got myself killed, stupid" I said, shaking my head at my stupidity, as I take her hand in mine, squeezing it gently. I then turn my gaze to look at Jean, resting my other hand on top of her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I didn't expect your teams or either of you to be in the target area though, how come you were there?" I asked Nat and Jean, genuinely puzzled.

"You're not the only one who bugs all the people he cares about" Nat replied, an enigmatic smile on her face. I frowned in thought, when it struck me.

"The dinner you made, the bug was in the juice wasn't it?" I responded, knowing my weakness for lemonade would get me into trouble.

"Honestly, I don't know how you can drink it, it's so... _tart_ " Nat replies, her face scrunching in disgust.

"Yes, as will I never understand your fascination with mango smoothies" I responded, pulling her into a warm hug as I stood up. I notice an unidentified emotion flash across Jean's face as I let go of Nat. I quirked an eyebrow at her, to which she shakes her head in reply.

"Professor X read some mutant signatures in Russia, we went to get them out of the cold" Jean replied.

"Remind me to get him something nice in gratitude" I said as I wrap my arm around her waist. She laid her head on my shoulder, letting out a long exhale.

Nat let out a chuckle, and was about to say something when Doctor McCoy walked in.

"Ah, John. You were right in your suspicions of your DNA" he said, his voice tinged with concern.

I felt my heart fall to somewhere near my feet.

"So, my theory was correct, wasn't it?" I reply, ignoring the puzzled looks from Nat and Jean.

"Yes, yes you were. I have already contacted Doctor Banner and between the Professor and I, we can ensure that General Ross doesn't trouble him" he replies, his gaze only filled with concern.

"What's going on Doctor?" Nat asked, flipping on her Black Widow mask.

"Didn't he tell you?" he asked in surprise, taking in the puzzled looks of both the ladies. He sighed and shot me a despairing look. I, selfish bastard that I am, had hidden my suspicions from both of them. Just so that I may have a few more precious moments in their company.

"He's a mutant"

-X-

 **Next up: Recruitment!**

 **This one was mostly filler, with 15 % plot in it.**

 **Read and Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

_14\. Recruitment_

 _Date: 2nd December, 2008, Time: 1143 hrs. Location: 21 Aster Apartments, New York. POV: Slade 'Deathstroke' Wilson_

I sat in the bistro oppposite the shiny new apartment building where I was to meet my new employer. All I knew about him was that he had the funds and capability to set up an impressive number of spies, but there was no centralised network to hack, no servers to compromise. And no compunctions to getting the job done.

The meet was at 1200, in the penthouse of the building. I had been on watch for the past week since the message was delivered to me by a burner phone that was dropped into my pocket. I checked my watch.

11:55.

I finished my coffee, paid my bill and made my way to the building.

As I entered, a tall, bald Black man with a French beard and a nice suit joined me in the lift.

"Which floor?" he asked me, his voice a cultured drawl.

"Sixteenth" I reply, at which he raises an eyebrow.

"Funny that, I'm on the same floor. Coincidence, huh?" _that_ got my attention. I carefully evaluated the man, who was scrutinizing me with the same intensity. And then it clicked.

"Deadshot" I said, in recognition and greeting. We're old acquaintances. Plus it's a small world.

"Deathstroke" he replied, a wry smile on his face.

"Any idea who we're meeting?" he asked, to which I grunt in reply.

"No idea. All I know is that they're seriously bank rolled and they're damn dangerous" he nodded sagely as we approached the sixteenth floor.

"Game face on?" he asked, to which I nod as the elevator doors opened.

-X-

We entered the conference room at exactly 12:00. And see the people around us.

Deadpool.

Taskmaster.

Captain America.

And the Winter- _fucking-_ Soldier.

"Oooh shit" commented Deadshot. I just nod numbly in reply.

"As my cousin would say, language Mr. Lawton" came an amused voice. I look to see a small group at the head of the table. On my left stood a man in his late forties. His whole attitude screamed 'Army'. On the right stood Nicholas Fury, director of SHIELD. Sitting in the chair in the middle sat a young man, about 16, with pale blond hair and hard grey eyes. Not the rebellious teenage hardness, but the hardness of a combat vetran. And a leader of combat vetrans.

On the seats next to him on either side were three _gorgeous_ red heads, followed by a seven foot tall man with dark hair. Next up were two dark haired women, one in a business suit with librarian glasses. The other had a black tattoo over her right eye. Lastly was a man dressed in a business suit, with a strong jaw and a receding hairline.

"Gentlemen, please have a seat" said the young man in the centre, smiling a beatific smile. A smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I believe introductions are in order" he continued.

"My name is John Shepherd. You may know of me as Prophet. Welcome to X-Force"

-X-

 **Next up: It's Hammer Time!**


	15. Chapter 15

_15\. Of Gods And_ Men

 _Date: 12th December, 2008, Time: 1830 hrs. Location: John Shepherd's residence, New York City, New York POV: _Jean 'Phoenix' Grey__

I was tucked up against the backrest of the sofa and John as we cuddled together, his body heat keeping me nice and toasty. The blanket over us helped matters along.

Ever since we got back from Russia, the two of us had become closer than ever. I had shown him everything of who I am. And he responded by letting me see him for who he is.

And some of the things he showed me outright _terrified_ me.

Fighting against a full-fledged Dark Lord, and culling the _cult_ he led, of monsters and evil men and women, from within. Then the reformation. Decades of corruption, inertia and bloated burgeoning bureaucracy, all having to be cleaned out within years. The cleansing of an entire world of the muck accumulated from years of neglect.

But I thought his decision to adopt Delphini and provide a positive role model to the little girl was the best one. Considering he was only seventeen when he took guardianship of the girl and kept away from that venomous bitch Rowle. I never thought I would hate someone as much as I hated that bitch when she was dragged in to the trial for custody of the little baby.

God only knows what she would have turned into over the years she would have been under the bitch. And I know exactly what kind of father John would be. I enjoyed watching him blush as I observed his interactions with Del, as he called her, over the years.

Then, as he called it, the Mass Effect Universe. Having to keep all his abilities and capacities a secret. Losing his team on a planet to a nest of space worms, then having to fight an invasion force off during his shore leave. Then the galaxy wide hunt of a rogue double-O type Space Gestapo, tearing apart of _another_ terrorist organisation and then fighting off and ultimately sacrificing himself to stop a race of omnicidal machine gods, while always on the back foot.

The things he had seen, he had to do.

I guess at this stage, any normal teenage girl would have run for the hills screaming, not be contently curled up with him. I could thank the fragment of the Phoenix Force for giving me _perspective_. Seeing the universe from the time it was created, all of it in all its wondrous and horrendous sights and experiences, knowing the man you are with had lived three lifetimes already was less shocking.

It helped that the Phoenix and Cyttorak were getting along _famously_.

Even his mutation, which turned out to be pheromone manipulation, was something that barely registered. Except for when I was cuddled up like now and breathing in his scent. Which apparently he found arousing.

Oh, just a footnote, I dumped Duncan when he didn't apologise for bullying Peter. Though allowing John to rip him to shreds would have been... _maybe_ just as satisfying.

 _Jean_ he growled, when I wriggled against him, using my bum against his crotch. Feeling decidedly evil, I wriggled against him some more, which resulted in him letting out an animalistic growl and flipping me onto my back as he loomed over me.

The next few minutes were intense and _oh_ so satisfying. Which had been my intention all along.

-X-

Date _: 12th December, 2008, Time: 1903 hrs. Location: In Campus of Stony Brooke University. POV: Loki Laufeyson_

 _I was grappling with a very important problem. A problem of such complexity and simplicity it was one worthy of me, Loki Odinson. After all, as the God of Mischief, Lies and Magic I should enjoy it._

 _But, I don't. It would make me vulnerable. And worst of all..._

 _Oh, to hell with it. I might as well just spell it out._

 _I have fallen in love with Jane Foster._

 _There, I've said it. Phew._

 _Already I feel better having admitted it to myself. Now,_ _what_ _do I do about it?_

 _I could say nothing, be her friend and colleague and then make my excuses, return to Asgard and keep a distant yet protective watch over her._

 _Or, I could tell her everything about myself. That I was effectively immortal. That I was a god from Norse myth and legend (which you mortals had better correct soon, I mean really? Slepnir,_ Jörmungandr and Fenris? Ask me to get the _true_ account of events). That I was effectively Asgard's spymaster and chief spy?

That would be one major shock for her to deal with…I….wait my phone is ringing.

"Jane?" I said into the phone, after picking up the call.

 _"Lewis! I am so sorry but we'll have to cancel on the New Year's party. Darcy, Erik and I are heading out to New Mexico, some kind of gravimetric anomaly was detected by scanners. We're packing and booking tickets there now"_ she said in reply. My heart dropped somewhere to my stomach.

But, I am Loki Odinson. I don't give up what I want without a fight.

"Do you need an extra pair of hands and eyes?" I asked her, my voice genuine. I couldn't bear the idea of being surrounded by a group of inane gossipers. I would prefer chasing will o' wisps with an intelligent, witty and attractive woman.

A pause on the other end of the line, as she considers her decision, weighing the pros and cons. I know that saying anything now would jeopardise everything.

 _"How fast can you get to the airport?"_ she asked, her voice edged with tension. I chuckled as I reach into a minor pocket dimension where I store a go-bag with all the essentials necessary for immediate travel.

Advantages of having magic.

"I am already on my way" I said as I started making my way to the main gates. Another silence, then Jane's voice comes again over the phone.

 _"I'll message you the flight and ticket details. And Lewis...I...thank you"_

"Jane, it is my honest pleasure" I replied, letting the warmth in voice reach her over the phone as I hail a taxi.

-X-

 **Next up:** **_I am not the God Of Reason and Understanding! I am the God...of being smacked around by Midgardian vehicles._**

 ** _A/N: Cleaned up the grammar of the previous chapters and set up the timeline in more realistic manner._**


End file.
